You will hear a lot of people arguing for gun control and higher security to prevent tragedies like Sandy Hook, Columbine, or the Aurora theater, but disarming everyone but criminals and placing armed guards everywhere people might congregate just isn’t feasible. (The other answer to weapon inequality is to make it mandatory for every citizen to be trained with and own a weapon, which must be worn at all times. That may seem unreasonable, but, if the teachers and theatre patrons had all had guns…) Until you plug the holes in the boat, it won’t stop sinking, no matter how many paper cups you give the passengers to bail with.
To actually solve the problem, every single person will need to go much further. Tell me this: when was the last time you heard of a kindergarten student taking a civic responsibility class? Probably never, yet that is how early it needs to start to foster a true sense of societal stewardship. For at least the last two generations, children have been taught that they are ‘special’ and ‘important’, and taught their ‘rights’, which are enforced by the government; in short, they are given power without earning it or being held responsible for what they do with it. (Yes, there are exceptions, where, for example, a child is in actual danger, but they are few and far between, though, because of our own shortsightedness, it is becoming more and more common.)
Up until around a half a century ago, children were taught, from an early age, their responsibilities towards their family and society as a whole. At some point, however, the emphasis changed to a more self-centred focus, working to build up a child’s sense of self-esteem based on his or her mere existence, rather than what he or she has actually done to be proud of. How can such empty teachings NOT lead to spoiled children, when they are told that they don’t have to do anything that they don’t want to, yet can still feel proud of themselves? …and it gets worse; think of how the spoiled children you know behave, then Google ‘Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)’ and compare. Chilling, isn’t it? In essence, modern society is breeding for psychopaths!
Now we’ve come full circle; how yesterday’s parents raised their children has determined how rampant the disregard for human live is today, and why our children are dying at the hands of their children. …and the trend will only accelerate until society as a whole wakes up, seizes the reins with both hands, and teaches its children to be citizens, not parasites.
